Backup/Sync Google Drive to External Hard Drive (2 Easy Ways)

Why should you backup Google Drive to external hard drive?

Google Drive is quite a useful cloud storage drive that can help you to manage your personal files whenever you want. Your files in it can be reached from any smartphone, tablet, or computer. So where you go, your files follow. And you can share your files with whoever you want. When you download Google Drive on your PC, there is a Google Drive folder. The files you save in the Google Drive folder will be synced to the cloud in real time.

If you need to access these files frequently on different devices, you can sync the Google Drive folder to an external hard drive or a removable storage device just in case the Internet network goes offline. In addition, backing up Google Drive to external hard drive is also an extra layer of data protection from file corruption or virus infection.

Free file sync tools for Google Drive sync

1. Drive for desktop

Drive for desktop enables you to keep your files in sync between the cloud and your computer. That is, it will download files from the cloud and upload files from your computer’s hard drive. If you edit, delete, or move a file in one location, the same change happens in the other location.

2. AOMEI Backupper Standard

AOMEI Backupper Standard is a free and powerful file sync tool that is designed for Windows 11, 10, Windows 8.1/8, Windows 7, Windows XP and Windows Visa. You can benefit a lot from its following features:

• File Sync: you can backup or sync Google Drive/OneDrive/Dropbox to external hard drive, USB drive, and internal hard drive, and vice versa. You can also create multiple sync tasks to sync different folders or add multiple folders in one sync task to sync them simultaneously.

• Schedule: you can add a schedule to backup Google Drive automatically. You can set monthly, weekly and daily sync in Schedule Sync. When it reaches the specified time point, it will sync files and folders automatically.

Read on to learn how to sync Google Drive with external hard drive step by step.

How to backup Google Drive files to external hard drive easily

Solution 1: Sync with Drive for desktop

Step 1. Connect the external hard drive to your computer and ensure it is recognized by Windows.

Step 2. Download and install Google Drive for desktop on your computer. Then, log in to your Google Drive.

Step 3. Run Drive for desktop. Then click its icon in the taskbar, hit the Settings button and choose Preferences.

Step 4. Go to the Google Drive section and select Mirror files.

Step 5. Click Change folder location and select your external drive. Then click Confirm location.

Tip: If your external drive contains any data, you’ll get a prompt, “The folder has content that will be synced with your My Drive.”

Step 6. Click Save and Restart now. Then Drive for desktop will restart and your files will be synced from Google Drive to external hard drive and vice versa.

Solution 2: Sync via AOMEI Backupper

Note: Before you sync Google Drive files with AOMEI Backupper, you should do some preparations in the Drive for desktop. Just select the Mirror files option and use a local folder as the Google Drive folder. (You can just keep the default folder location.)

Step 1. Connect the external hard drive to your computer and make sure it is recognized.

Step 2. Download, install and launch AOMEI Backupper. Click Sync and choose Basic Sync option.

Step 3. Click Add Folder to select the Google Drive folder as source path. Then, click the blank bar below to select the external hard drive as the destination location.

Step 4. To set automatic file sync, click Schedule Sync and from here you can choose to sync your Google Drive files daily, weekly, or monthly.

Tip: You can also click Options to enable “Email notification”. Thus, when the file sync finishes, it will inform you with an email.

Step 5. Confirm the operation and click Start Sync.

With only 5 steps, you can sync Google Drive to external hard drive quickly and easily. After you finish the file sync, you can find the task in Home and manage it.

• Sync Now: If you don’t have a scheduled sync, you can sync files and folders manually.

• Restore: It can restore all files in the target folder to the source folder or other places.

• Edit Sync: You can add or remove source folders. Also, you can change the sync destination.

• Delete: If you want to give up this task, you choose "Delete".

💛 Tip on how to backup Google Drive to AOMEI Cloud:

If you have an AOMEI account, you can directly backup Google Drive files to AOMEI Cloud. The cloud drive is integrated with AOMEI Backupper, so you don't need to download any desktop app. And it still offers you 1TB of free storage in 15 days. 

Conclusion

With AOMEI Backupper, you can backup/sync Google Drive to an external hard drive without efforts. Besides the File Sync feature, this free software provides File Backup feature which allows you to backup Google Drive files to an image file. It also has many other useful features like block level incremental backup, disk clone, and making bootable device, etc. Don’t hesitate to give it a try!